Leaving a large footprint wouldn't be a bad thing if you were Robert Wadlow,
the Giant of Illinois. When you're 8' 11.1" tall with a foot that's 17
inches long and a shoe size of 37AA, it's kind of expected. Just ask the world's tallest living man and the man who currently holds the record for having the largest foot. They'll tell you.

But as everyone knows, the footprints humans leave behind and the
ones businesses leave behind are two different things. Both may leave
impressions on the Earth, but only one will vanish without leaving a
trace. The other can leave traces that will last a lifetime. Because of
that, many businesses today are looking for ways they can make their
footprints smaller; and one of the ways they're finding is with video conferencing.

Video conferencing is exactly what it sounds like - holding a
conference via video options with attendees being in various locations
instead of face-to-face in one place. Many businesses are finding that
using this method for some of their meetings not only saves them money,
but makes them more eco-friendly as well. How? Well, let's take a look
and see.

Fewer Carbon Emissions

According to one study,
a conference can be responsible for creating more than a ton of carbon
dioxide per attendee. How? Between the fossil fuel used to fly the plane
that brought the attendee, the fossil fuel used for the attendee to get
to and from the airport and around town, and the fossil fuel used to
create the electricity for the attendee's hotel room - let's just say it
all adds up quickly. Obviously, with a video conference, the need for
so much travel is eliminated. The result? The meeting's footprint begins
to shrink.

Less Waste for the Landfill

According to some statistics,
the paper making industry around the world uses about 4 billion trees
each year with every person in the United States using 749 lbs of it. A
lot of that paper eventually winds up in landfills. Traditional
conferences are often a part of that scene. Papers get printed and used
for a bit and then get thrown away at the end or when the attendee gets
home. A video conference eliminates some of those paper needs, meaning
less trash for the landfill and a need for a few less trees to be cut.
The result? The meeting's footprint shrinks even more.

More Involvement with Green

Eco-friendly factors like fewer carbon emissions and less waste may
be the biggest and most direct green advantages to video conferencing,
but they aren't the only ones. Less travel and fewer printouts also mean
less money being spent overall on the conference. How is that green?
Well, less money spent on a conference means more money available for making the company greener.
Efforts here could offset the conference's remaining footprint even
more. The result? A footprint that so small, you might need a magnifying
glass to see it.